Release Date: 10 June 2008
Song Count: 10
Duration: 45 minutes, 8 seconds
Rating: 6.3/10
Description:
Song Count: 10
Duration: 45 minutes, 8 seconds
Rating: 6.3/10
Description:
Plunging back into the world of metal, we stumble onto a 2000's work from a band with quite the turbulent history: Nachtmystium. A psychedelic black metal band which started out at the dawn of the millenium, this group is no stranger to controversies and critical moments over the span of their presence in the music industry, including several disbandments and reunifications, as well as cancelled tours and even connections to Nazi black metal record labels in their early years. Interestingly, after their second official disbandment in 2020, frontman and founder Blake Judd briefly revived the project four years after to release one more album before disappearing back into the shadows, and since then, all that has been left of Nachtmystium has been the fascinating aftermath of its works. Today's album of theirs, Assassins: Black Meddle, Part I, marks their fourth full-length work.
While mostly indulging in the standard motions of black metal in terms of musicality and thematics, the music present within this album not only flirts with bouts of interesting melodies stringing the tracks together, but also contains some further interesting details. Most notably, the inclusion of saxophones in the three-parter Seasick is a notable detachment from the usual genre-conforming sound and instrumentation. Along with this, the album takes a lot of inspiration from Pink Floyd-type riffs and other psychedelic elements, transforming the soundscape into a bit of a unique hybrid of black and progressive metal.
In spite of these ideas trying their best to add more of a fleshed out identity for the album, Assassins: Black Meddle, Part I winds up to be a pleasant yet on the lesser end of eventful work overall. The subtle aspects letting it stand out from other forms of black or progressive metal, though an improving factor, do fall back into the background for the most part, leading to a listening experience with certain moments of enjoyment that ultimately falls into a middle-of-the-road stagnation whenever the novelties wear off. Overall, a decent package, but likely not one that will hook me back in anytime soon.